Urinary collection device



May 19, 1970 C J. P. ELLIS 3,512,185

URINARY COLLECTION DEVICE Filed Nov. 9, 1967 IN VEN TOR.

M39005 FELL/.5

United States Patent O 3,512,185 URINARY COLLECTION DEVICE Jacob P.Ellis, 1705 W. Cedar, El Dorado, Ark. 71730 Filed Nov. 9, 1967, Ser. No.681,657 Int. Cl. A61g 9/00; A61f 5/44 U. S. Cl. 4-110 7 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of invention Theinvention relates to the art wherein devices are designed to be worn byor applied to a person to receive the urine of the user. Said inventivedevice is impressed against the vaginal introitus and may be used byeither ambulatory or bedridden females who have the need to control ordirecturine discharges when it isimpractical or impossible touse acommon urinal. Said device may also be used by bedridden females who arecontinent of urine, but who normally require assistance byothers inbeing placed upon a bed pan or similar apparatus in order to accomplishurinarydischarge collection.

Description of prior art Various devices are known to the public toassist in urination for bedridden female patients who are notincontinent but who are bedfast, orto provide for a personalized devicefor patients who are ambulatory but to the patient. Also, the Williamsdevice appears to have the limitation of requiring an intravaginalexternal urethral meatus for efiicient operation. It would appear thatan external urethral meatus located superior to the vaginal introituswould cause urine to be spilled around the device rather than throughit.

Pat. 3,072,125 to OBrien discloses a device which is applied peripheralto or exteriorly to the labia majora. It requires that a steel spring beinserted into the body opening thereby reforming such opening. On theother hand, the present invention does not require the intrusion of anyobject into the vaginal orifice or vault. The U- shaped guards areimpressed against the vaginal orifice to produce indentation or. slightinvagination of the introitus. In addition, this device has an air ventlocated ice:

exteriorly to the body which may be unbecoming, espe cially to anambulatory patient.

Pat. 3,227,162 to Aguirre discloses a simple urine receiver device for afemale child. This device follows the outward form of the area adjacentto the vulva. While this device is simple and practical, urine can stainthe ambient cutaneous parts and cause irritation or infection. Saiddevice also appears to have limited application to young femalechildren.

The present invention is small, inexpensive, nonirritating and itoperates on an entirely new principle. The invention is impressedagainst the vaginal orifice, not into it, and the labia minora enfoldthe device in such a manner as to make it inconspicious while revealingenough of the device to make it easy to handle and drain. The principlewhich the invention utilizes is based upon two observations. First, thefemale external urethral meatus, most frequently located inferiorly tothe clitoris and superiorly to the vaginal introitus, is often locatedintravaginally. Second, voided urine in supine position tra-' versesinto the introitus or, in cases of intravaginal urethra meatus, actuallyemits from the vaginal orifices. From these observations, it becomesapparent that the vaginal mucosa is impervious to urine. The inventorhas taken advantage of these facts to invent a device which can beimpressed into the vaginal introitus to produce a urine pool. Because ofthe unique structure of the in-. vention this pool can be easily andefliciently drained, thereby releasing the patient from anxieties andem- .barrassment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of collecting urine in the introitaland distal vaginal areas and channeling the urine to receptacles isdisclosed. Also disclosed is a urinary collection means to collect urinein the introital and distal vaginal areas and channel it away, saidmeans including a forward lip normally fitting below the clitoris,U-shaped guards capable of being impressed against the introitus, ahollow .body to collect urine, portions of said body capable of beingenfolded by the labia minora when in position, and a runoff spout tofunnel the urine to a depository.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of theviscera of a female showing the invention enfolded by the labia minoraand impressed against the vaginal introitus;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the inventive device;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the inventive device;

and 1 FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the invention across line 4-4 inFIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 3 minora are in proximate contactwith the sides and front of the device 10. A drain tube 34 fits tightlyover the runoff spout or second opening 32 of the device 10.

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, illustrate a closeup of one design of the device. Thedevice shown is generally hollow and has a single opening or elongatedfirst opening which is shown in three parts 38(a) (b) and (c). 38(a)opens to the urethral meatus 12, 38(b) is smaller and may becharacterized as a channel between inverted U-Shaped guards 40(a) and(13).

These guards extend upward from the top edge 42 of the device and, bybeing impressed against the vaginal orifice, produce a pooling of urineat the vaginal orifice for the effective channeling of urine into thehollow body of the device. A third section 38(0) extends rearwardly tocover adjacent areas so as to trap all urine flow or leakage and preventits spillage onto cutaneous parts.

While it will be well understood that various modifications of thedevice are possible, the preferred configuration may be described asfollows. The size of the device will vary according to the user. Thedrawings disclose a full scale representative device. The guards 40(a)(b) are slightly rounded at the top and slope concavely outward to aridge-line 44. The rounded edges 41 and 43 of the openings 38(a) andrespectively pick up and follow the slope of guards 40 away from roundededge 42 of opening 38(b). Directly beneath the opening 38(a) is a hollowrounded well which curves inwardly from the ridge line 44 and the frontedge of the device. This well continues rearwardly to form a collectingchamber 46. Said chamber is drained by means of the runofl? spout 32located at the back of the device. The design of the spout is such thatit will drain when the user is either erect or supine. Obviously,modifications can be made to adapt the device to drain when the patientis in a prone position.

An extending lip 48 is located below the chamber 46. Said lip acts as alinger grip plate to enable the device to be easily placed by a personapplying it to herself or by another applying it to the female patient.

Because of the size and configuration of the vulva in the average adultfemale the device may be easily placed so that the upper portions areenfolded by labia minora. Modifications of the illustrated device wouldmake it adaptable to female children and young adults.

The method of placement does not cause the device to be retained in afixed positon. Fixation of the position is dependent upon appropriateexternal strapping. Because of the personal nature of the enveloping fitof the device, conventional elastic belts or modifications ofconventiOnal sanitary napkin straps may be used, to eliminate bulkyexternal evidence of the device. Of course, provision must be made tocollect the runoff waste, but by utilizing specially designed rubber orelastic collection urinals for ambulatory users, the user may carry onher normal daily routine. 7

The composition of the device can vary with its particular purpose. Forinstance, rigid plastic has been found to be preferred for bedriddenpatients, but other softer, resilient material may be utilized. Thesimplicity of the device adapts it to inexpensive construction which mayenable the device to be employed as a disposable item. In any case,because of the ease in placing and removing the device, a nondisposableone can easily be sterilized. Because the device is located within thefolds of the labia minora, the dangers of cutaneous injury areminimized.

While the device is impressed against the vaginal orifice with the labiaminora in proximate position, leakage around the device is minimized oreliminated entirely. The U-shaped guards 40 (a) (b) provide a channel inthe vaginal introitus to direct the urinary stream or leakage into thecollecting chamber 46. The force of the stream and gravitational flow ofthe urine will carry it downward and backward through spout 32, into thetube 34.

By impressment against the vaginal introitus, the U- shaped guardscreate a pocket or pool where urine can collect or pool until sufficienturine has collected to flow. Such a collection of urine is subsequentlydirected into and through the device and into a collecting chamber. Thispool is located mainly at or near the vaginal orifice but could coverthe entire urogenital cleft area. The need to provide means of urinarydrainage from the introitus as well as the urethral meatus arises fromthe two observations previously stated that: (1) the female externalurethral meatus, which is most frequently located in= feriorly to theclitorius and superiorly to the vaginal introitus, is often locatedintravaginally; and (2) when the female is in the supine position,voided urine traverses the introitus or, in cases of an intravaginalurethral meatus, it emits from the vaginal orifice.

The pooling of urine in the introitus and distal vaginal areas does notharm or cause irritation to these tissues because vaginal mucosa appearsimpervious to urine. The device allows the urine to flow by gravity orby the force of the urinary stream into the device, to be funneled awayto a receptacle. Thus it can be understood that regardless of the pointof urine discharge, the device causes the urine to pool in the introitaland distal vaginal areas, so that it may be directionally funneled fromthe body, with the labia minora substantially enfolding the device.

I claim:

1. A urinary collection device for women comprising:

a generally elongated hollow body of a size and configuration to besubstantially enfolded by the labia minora of the user,

an elongated first opening formed through a top wall of said hollow bodyfor receiving voided fluids, said first opening having (a) a forwardaperture portion adapted to receive voided fluids from the area of theurethral meatus when the device is operatively positioned, (b) arelatively narrow intermediate aperture portion adapted to receivevoided fiuids from the area of the introitus when the device isoperatively positioned, and (c) a rearward aperture portion adapted toreceive voided fluids from ambient introital areas when the device isoperatively positioned,

at least two upwardly extending U-shaped projections formed on saidhollow body for being impressed against the vaginal orifice or introituswhen the device is operatively positioned, said upwardly extendingU-shaped projections being arranged with at least one such U-shapedprojection positioned on each side of said relatively narrowintermediate aperture portion so that when the device is operativelypositioned with said U-shaped projections impressed against the vaginalorifice or introitus there is formed a pool area which assists indirecting a flow of voided fluids into a collection chamber of saidhollow body, and a second opening formed through a lower wall of saidhollow body for draining voided fluids away from the collection chamberof said hollow body.

2. A urinary collection device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said secondopening is a single, open nozzle-like projection extending downward andrearwardly from said collection chamber so as to allow drainage thereof.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said elongated first opening isgenerally hourglass shaped in plan view.

4. A urinary collection device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the edgesof said first opening are rounded.

5. A urinary collection device as claimed in claim 4 wherein saidU-shaped projections slope generally inwardly and upwardly from marginaledges of the first opening.

6. A urinary collection device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said bodyslopes outwardly and downwardly from the edges of said first opening toform a rounded ridge from the forward lip of said first opening whichextends along the length of said first opening, and then slopesdownwardly and inwardly from said rounded ridge to form said collectionchamber.

7. A urinary collection device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said bodyhas a projection beneath said collection chamber whereby said device maybe grasped for purposes of insertion and removal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Behan 4110 Wells 4-110 Williams128---295 Kinyon 4-110 Felts 41 10 Siegenthal 4-110 OBrien 128-295Bauman 4-110 6 Giesy 4110 Naftolin 41 10 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain.Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. France. France.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner D. B. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner

